The Darkness That Surrounds Us
by 27unleashed
Summary: She understood them better than anyone else, but someone was trying to take her away from them. Big mistake. You don't mess with this family. Same AU as my last fic, with Cass. Takes place after. Holy CRAP! So much syrupy family crap you could barf. But that's the beauty of FANFICTION! I can write whatever the heck I want! Just some family kicking ass.
1. She's finally home

The wind whistled past as Tim flew through the night. He landed on the next roof top, ran, and leapt ff the other side, firing off a grappling line. This is where he belonged.

Dick is the overly talented acrobat, with mad fighting skills and whit to match. Nightwing. Jason is the massive brute force that sends chills down your spine just by looking at him, with a mouth that would make sailors blush. Red Hood. Damian is the quick and deadly assassin, whose constant proclamations of his never ending greatness really grate on the nerves, but he has the prowess to back them up. Robin.

Tim has amazing brothers, but when it comes down to it, no one can fly like he can. Tim could just leap and free fall, shoot off a line at last minute and still fly through the air at astounding speeds, and look graceful and badass at the same time while doing it. All within the cover of the night. Tim just naturally blends in with the night, a talent none of his brothers had. They could avoid being seen, but for Tim, he didn't even have to try.

Tim eventually landed on a roof and just stopped. He stood up and looked around eagerly. He was supposed to meet someone here. One of the people who understood him best in the world. He looked around once more, stopping when he caught a flicker of movement within the shadows that connected to the next roof. He stared at that spot until a graceful figure stepped out of the darkness and walked towards him. He grinned from ear to ear when he saw her. She looked around, then deeming it to be safe, she removed her cowl, letting her short black hair fall and frame her face. There was one more amazing sibling that Tim had, one he hadn't seen in almost 8 months. Cassandra Cain-Wayne. Also known as Batgirl.

Tim rushed forward, grabbing her by the waist and lifting her up, spinning her around in a circle. She smiled down at him. Once he set her down the two embraced, Tim wrapping his arms around her waist and putting his forehead in the crook of her neck. He felt the tears begin to spill over. Cassandra just wrapped her arm around his shoulders and ran her other hand through his hair.

"I love you." Tim sniffled and gripped her tighter. Cass just smiled and kissed the top of his head. Batgirl had been on an overseas mission in Hong Kong for the past 8 months. She was looking into leads of an international sex trafficking gang, the main branch functioning in Hong Kong. She went with the intention of being back within 2 months, but the gang was much harder to track then originally thought, and even harder to infiltrate. But Cassandra had just finished breaking up the gang for good about 2 weeks ago. She had to stay in Hong Kong to help out with the retrieving and relocation of the victims, as well as track down runaways from the gang. She was chasing a few of them, including the boss, down some back allies, but they just disappeared. She was going to stay longer, but the local authorities told her that they would finish up the case and track down the rest of the gang. She was reluctant at first, but she was all finished now, and could finally come home.

"I love you." Cass whispered back into Tim's hair. Tim looked up from Cass's shoulder and smiled. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek and then turned around, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the edge of the roof. Cass grabbed her cowl and pulled it back over her head.

Cassandra is the beautiful, graceful warrior who can leave you spell bound with just a simple movement. She has bright amber eyes that can look deep within you and analyze every inch of your soul within seconds. She is also a friend of the night. Batgirl. Tim was so happy she was home.

Tim took out his grappling gun and fired off a line, pulling Cass close to his body and leaping off the edge. They both knew that Cassandra had her own grappling gun, but both were using it as an excuse to be closer to one another. When they arrived at the edge of town, Tim grabbed Cass and fired off one more line so they could drop down into the ally below where his motorcycle was waiting. Tim put his helmet on and handed the extra one to Cassandra. She took it and pulled it over her head. They got on the bike and took off towards the manor, Cass hugging Tim tightly from behind, both for safety, and just the comfort of having him so near.

They pulled into the cave at around 2:30 am. They dismounted and headed further into the cave. Tim pulled off his mask, Cass doing the same. Once they were farther inside, the sound of someone typing on the keys of the giant bat computer could be heard. Bruce must still be up. Tim looked over at Cass excitedly. Cass looked over at Tim, giving him a look of anxiousness and excitement mixed together. No one besides Tim knew that she was home. She didn't want to tell everyone and get their hopes up, only to realize that she had to stay longer for some last minute emergency.

Cass slowly walked towards the sound of the typing. As she drew closer, the typing stopped, Bruce obviously sensing her approach. He turned around, his eyes widening in surprise, but then softening into a fond gaze. He stood up and walked over to Cass, grabbing her shoulders and looking her up and down.

"You seem to be in good health. No secret injuries your hiding from me right?" he asked, amusement hiding in his voice.

Cass shook her head "No. No injury." She responded. Bruce smiled at her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Welcome home Cass, we've all missed you so much." Bruce whispered, hugging her tighter. Cassandra gripped his shoulders and gave a tight squeeze. They broke apart, smiling at each other. Tim just smiled at the two of them.

Cassandra started looking around the cave, a look of confusion across her face. "Where are the rest of family?" She inquired. Bruce smiled softly at her and looked towards the stairs.

"We got done with the case earlier than expected, so the boys went to bed early. I was just finishing up when you showed up." He said. Cass leaned her head to the side, curiousness evident on her face.

"Jason here too?" She asked, surprised that the usually unsocial, anti-family brother was actually willingly spending time at the manor. Bruce smiled down at her again.

"Yes, Jason too. He's been spending a lot of time here ever since you went to Hong Kong. Everyone has been together more lately." Bruce told her looking up at Tim, who was desperately trying to stay awake by leaning against a table, but his head kept bobbing up and down, eyes fluttering shut once in a while, then snapping back open. Bruce shook his head, smiling. "Alright, you two should head up to bed. It's pretty late and I'm sure you're both extremely tired." Bruce grabbed Tim gently by the shoulder and directed the two of them towards the changing area so they could change back into normal clothing.

Tim stifled a yawn and shuffled into the changing area, grabbing Cass's hand and pulling her along behind him. The two emerged a few minutes later, stripped of their costumes. Tim just had on grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt, while Cass had on a pair of green sleep shorts and a loose grey top pajama set that Barbara gave her for Christmas. The two then headed up the stairs, lightly bumping into each other on the way up. Bruce just watched them and smiled. He shut down the computer and headed over to the changing area himself and got out of the bat suit before following his two children up the stairs.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Light streamed through the crack in the curtains into the bedroom, shining right onto Jason's face. He growled as he slowly opened his eyes. It's too early for this crap! Jason threw back the dark red comforter that covered him and swung his legs over the edge before standing up and stretching. Dressed in nothing but some sweatpants, he headed out the door and made his way to the kitchen. He entered to find Dick and Damian already down there, Dick in a white tank-top and blue basketball shorts, and Damian in a black t-shirt and batman pajama bottoms. They were just sitting there, Dick at the dining table, not looking at anything in particular, and Damian was sitting on one of the stools next to the island counter. Jason just stared at them for a few seconds before walking all the way into the kitchen. "Why are you two just sitting around like zombies? Where's Alfred?"

Dick looked up at Jason with a lost puppy expression. "Alfred had to go on some errands, but he left early this morning and won't be back until later this evening. And now we have no food!" Dick's voice rose with each passing moment, so by the end of his little story, he sounded almost hysterical. Jason just slapped him lightly on the head.

"Calm down drama queen, we're not out of food, just go-" and right then Jason realized the problem. They weren't out of food, Alfred always made sure of that. But one thing he didn't really think about was the fact that none of them knew how to cook. At all.

Dick looked like he was about to burst into tears. "You see!? We're gonna starve!" Dick dropped his head onto the table, sighing in defeat. Damian finally looked over at the two of them.

"Instead of crying and giving up Grayson, why don't you just go and get Drake. I believe he's still upstairs sleeping." Damian said, giving them both a very unimpressed look.

Dick's head shot up and stared at Damian. The look of crushing defeat and despair that adorned his face before disappeared, and in its place a look of utter joy spread. Dick grinned up at Jason and shot up from his chair, heading towards the stairs that led up to the bedrooms. As he was about to exit the kitchen, he stopped and turned around. "Thanks a lot Dami! And now my dear brothers, do not despair, for I will return with our sleeping lost brother in a minute, and with him, breakfast!" Dick cheered, turning around and sprinting for the stairs.

Jason just stood staring at the spot that Dick disappeared from. He only sighed at the older man's strangeness, and slid into one of the dining chairs. He had just grabbed the newspaper that sat in the middle of the table when a loud thundering, courtesy of Dick, could be heard coming down the stairs and into the kitchen only a few minutes after the dork had left. Dick slid to a stop in front of Jason, and without saying anything, grabbed him and Damian, and started running back towards the stairs again.

"Dick, what are you doing?" Jason groaned, really tired and not really in the mood to fight Dick off, but still grumpy enough to yell at him.

"Grayson, unhand me you thundering idiot!" Damian snarled, pulling on Dick's arm to get him off. But Dick just pulled them down the hall until they reached Tim's door. He finally relinquished his hold on Jason and Damian, and then put his finger up to his mouth to indicate silence. Jason and Damian just exchanged confused looks.

Dick slowly opened Tim's door, taking slow steps inside. He beckoned for the other two to follow him inside. Jason and Damian crept slowly into the room behind Dick. Once they were inside they all just stared.

In the bed was Tim sound asleep, but that wasn't what Dick had freaked out about, or what kept Jason and Damian frozen in place.

Tim was lying on his back, and lying right next to him, curled into him with Tim's arm wrapped around her shoulders, was Cassandra. Her head was laying on Tim's shoulder and collar bone. Tim's head was resting on the top of hers, his other hand intertwined with Cass's fingers on his chest.

The other three occupants of the room just stared at the two sleeping teens. The silence was broken though when Dick decided to squeal really loudly, run, and jump onto the bed, hugging both occupants in a crushing embrace. Jason slapped his hand to his face while Damian just rolled his eyes.

Tim let out a groan and a gasping intake of breath from not getting the proper intake of oxygen from his brother's death grip. Cass opened her eyes and looked at Dick, sleep-deprivation evident on her face. Dick sat up with a wild grin, pulling Tim and Cass up with him. They both just stared at him, Tim yawning and Cass rubbing her eyes. Then suddenly Cass stopped rubbing her eyes and looked right at Dick. Then a wide smile spread across her face, and she flung herself at Dick, wrapping her arms around his neck. Dick laughed and fell back on the bed, holding onto her waist.

Cass leaned over and kissed Dick's cheek before looking at his face again. "I love you." She said, smiling down at him.

Dick just smiled back, leaning up to kiss her nose. "I love you." That was all that was ever said between these siblings. No gushing, or over the top declarations. Just one simple phrase, but meant so much more than anyone knew.

Cass looked up at Jason and Damian, then launched herself across the room and grabbed Damian around the neck and Jason around the middle and held both tightly. Jason smiled fondly down at his younger adoptive sister, running his hand through her hair. Damian just let out a –tt before wrapping one of his arms around her middle and grabbing her arm with the other.

"I love you." Jason whispered leaning down to kiss her head.

"I love you." Damian said, a blush spreading from his cheeks up to his ears.

"I love you." Cass said, smiling at both of them before releasing her hold on them.

Tim, who had been sitting there quietly, crawled across his bed and flopped onto his stomach next to Dick, who had rolled over and was just watching his younger siblings with a smile on his face. Dick turned to Tim and grinned, ruffling his hair. Tim smiled back and playfully flicked Dick in the nose, earning a small whine from the older man. Dick's grin grew playful, and before Tim could even think of moving away, Dick had grabbed him and pushed him off the bed.

Tim hit the floor with a loud thud. He sat up, rubbing his shoulder where he hit it on the hardwood floor. He glared up at Dick who was just laughing. Tim quickly flipped over, bracing his feet against the bed frame and grabbing Dick by his wrists. He pushed against the bed and pulled as hard as he could, pulling Dick forward off the bed with a yelp. As Dick fell forward towards Tim, Tim put his feet up, catching Dick on his stomach and abs, then proceeded to launch him over and into Jason and Damian.

Cass darted out of the way of her oncoming older brother, but Jason and Damian were not so fortunate. Dick crashed into the two, sending all three sprawling onto the floor.

Tim couldn't hold it in, he just collapsed into a giggling, wheezing mess on the floor, grabbing his sides as small tears pricked the corners of his eyes. He attempted to sit up and look at his brothers, realizing a bit too late that they had all gotten up and were glaring at him. Without wasting another second, Tim sprung up and dashed for the door, grabbing Cass's hand on the way out, dragging her with him.

Cass could hear the loud pounding and yelling of her brothers behind her and Tim as they sprinted down the hallway towards the stairs. Without really realizing it, she began to laugh.

Tim nearly tripped over the last few stairs at the sound. He turned around to look at Cass, a wide grin quickly spreading across his face. Cass didn't laugh all that often, so when she did it felt like everything else would just stop. Tim loved the sound.

But because of this, Tim wasn't paying attention, so the sudden force of another body thrown against him wasn't expected and sent him crashing onto the floor.

The source of the force was Jason, who had tackled Tim to the floor and was currently giving him a noogie that would surely bruise later. Tim struggled under the bigger man's strength, wriggling around and slapping at his arms.

"Jason, stop! It's gonna bruise, maybe bleed! I'm sorry, just stop!" Tim pleaded with his older brother, wincing as Jason's knuckles dug deeper into his skull.

Jason, finally hearing his brother's pleas, let him go, not before giving him one last smack on the head before standing up. Tim just rubbed his head, a small tear in the corner of his eye. Jason, feeling a bit guilty, reached down and grabbed Tim under his arms and hoisted him up. Tim yelled in surprise, but quickly turned to embarrassment.

"Jason! What are you doing?! Put me down! Jason!" Tim yelled, kicking his legs as they dangled uselessly below. Jason had him at arms length and lifted him up, almost like someone would do with a small child. Well, Tim was fairly small so it pretty much counted. Right?

Jason, after lifting his younger brother off the floor, realized how small he really was, and not necessarily in a good way. 'Is he eating enough? He always works so hard that he forgets to take care of himself. He's already kinda short, he doesn't need to make it worse with malnutrition.' Were the thoughts running through Jason's head while he held his brother above him.

Dick and Damian were standing off to the side with Cassandra, Dick and Cass smiling and giggling, while Damian just rolled his eyes. That is until Dick saw Jason pick Tim up and lift him up. When Tim started yelling Dick couldn't hold himself back and squealed like a little girl, whipping out his phone and snapping pictures over and over again.

"Dick!? Quit it! Jason put me down!" Tim was becoming exasperated with his two older siblings, seriously, what's their problem?!

A deep rumbling 'ahem' was heard from the top of the stairs, which made everyone turn and look up. Bruce just stared down at his children, tiredness evident on his face. He looked at the scene before him and sighed. "Jason, Dick, what are you doing to Tim?" He asked, somewhat afraid of the answer.

Jason and Dick just looked at each other and then back up at Bruce. "What do you mean Bruce? Timmy is just so cute that I had to take pictures of him." Dick said matter-of-factly. Tim looked absolutely distressed, still trying to kick out at his captor.

"Bruce! Help me!" Tim pleaded. He looked miserable, which wasn't what he should feel considering Cass just got back last night. Bruce sighed and walked down the stairs. When he got to the bottom he walked over to the trio.

"Jason, put Tim down _now_." Bruce said through gritted teeth. It was too damn early for this!

Jason look at Bruce with a glare, huffed, then set Tim down on the floor, where Tim proceeded to sprint over to Cass and hide behind her. Damian looked up at Tim with an unimpressed expression.

"Really Drake? The first thing you do once free is hide behind a woman?" he asked, an eyebrow rose in question. He quickly regretted it though when he caught a glimpse of Cass's face, glaring daggers down at him. "Don't get so flustered Cain, of course you don't count." He stammered out quickly. He turned on his heel and walked towards the kitchen, calling behind him. "Drake! Pennyworth is not at home so you will make my breakfast!"

Tim just sighed and made his way after Damian into the kitchen, soon followed by the rest of the family.

Despite the earlier ruckus, Bruce smiled as he followed his children into the kitchen/dining room. This was how his household was supposed to be. They all entered the kitchen, taking seats at the table and bar stools at the counter. Tim headed for the cooking area and began grabbing ingredients for breakfast.

Cass looked around at her family and smiled. She loved them more than she could ever say. It was so good to be home right now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Damn it! Damn it all! We were so close! Why can't damn bats mind their own business, we're not even in the U.S.! Fucking Christ!"

"What are we gonna tell the boss? We lost all of the shipment, and cliental is dropping severely."

"Holy crap he's gonna kill us! All this for nothing! We can't even run away!"

A group of men sat in a corner booth in a seedy bar in Hong Kong, talking about the recent loss due to Batgirl's intervention. They were the few remaining members of the sex traffickers. They all looked up when heavy footsteps were heard coming up to their booth.

"As much as it would please me to shoot a bullet through your worthless head right now Rodgers, you pathetic sacks of skin are all that's left of my business, and I hate interviews." The boss, Danny Yang, said while pulling up a chair.

Kyle Rodgers jumped violently from his seat, shocked to see his boss sitting across from the table. The other members who were left, Rick Santiago, Darius Grant, Keith Hitch, and Carl Raeger, just sat there and looked at the boss, some a little wide eyed and pale.

"Don't worry boys, I've already started plans for the next shipment to come in. And the order on the list is a special request from a VIP client. We've been asked to go to Gotham and pick up his order." Yang explained calmly.

The rest of the gang looked extremely uncomfortable. "Gotham? We're all the out here in Hong Kong, and one of the Bats still got to us, you want us to go straight into their fucking laps with a sign and bright lights or something?" Grant exclaimed, slamming a fist onto the table.

Yang shot him a glare from where he sat. "You're lucky I don't have the time to replace you right now Grant, 'cause otherwise I would have shoved your own dinner knife into your throat." He growled. Grant looked a bit scared before settling back down into his seat.

"The client has contacted me and told me that the necessary means to deal with the big Bat and the rest of his little league of sidekicks will be waiting for us when we reach Gotham." Yang told them. "All we need to do is pick up his order, and deliver it to him where he asks."

Hitch looked up, a bit uncertain, but pressed on anyway. "Who's the client?" He asked timidly.

Yang looked over at him and smirked. "Oh, you know him, but he's asked me to keep his identity secret until we've delivered the goods to him, doesn't want to Bat to pick up his trail through one of you idiots."

Raeger tried this time. "What, or _who_ , are we picking up?" he questioned.

Yang smirked broadly this time. "Batgirl."


	2. Unexpected hit

**A/N : Holy crap this took forever. Sorry for not uploading quicker. College mixed writers block can be a real pain. Well here is chapter two of my ongoing series 'Darkness'. For those of you who are actually reading this and waiting for updates, sorry it took so long, and also thank you so much for taking the time to actually read it! I'm pretty new at this so it means a lot!**

 **Now for the obvious, I don't own batman, or dc or anything like that, this is just fiction.**

 **Also yes, if it wasn't painfully obvious, I made up the human trafficking guys for the sake of the story.**

 **Alright, enjoy! 3**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Nightwing stood at the edge of a building looking down into the shady ally below. He reached up and pressed the button to talk through the comm in his mask. "Nightwing here. Standing above destination, but no sign of the target. Sent Robin to circle around the block for surveillance." He spoke swiftly into the comm.

"Copy that Nightwing, Little Red and I are circling back around from up north. ETA is 3 minutes." Came Red Hood's gruff reply.

Dick smiled at the nickname. As much as Timmy would deny it, he was by far the cutest out of all their siblings. And as such, got most of the cute nicknames, coined by other members of the family. Except Damian. That boy would rather die than be suspected of having something resembling family love towards Tim.

Dick was brought out of his thoughts when a low rumbling voice came through the intercoms.

"Good. Nightwing, stay there and keep watching for the target. Robin, meet back with Nightwing but stay a bit farther down the rooftop incase the come from the other direction. Red Hood and Red Robin, split up and join them when you circle back. Batgirl and I will cover the other side of the building." Batman instructed.

Everyone did as directed and waited patiently for their target to arrive.

Earlier in the evening, Batman got a tip from Oracle about a possible gun and drug trade going down here with Black Mask. That's why everyone was outside at 2 in the morning, crouching in the freezing cold. Don't ever doubt Oracle's intel.

Tim crouched at the edge of the building, Dick standing a few feet to his left. For everyone's sakes, the four brothers all agreed that if they ever needed to split up that Tim and Damian were NEVER stuck together. It meant less injury and less stress for Alfred.

Just when everyone was feeling like packing it in and going home (mainly Jason), the low rumbling of a van could be heard coming down the road. Everyone stood up immediately and peered over the edge of the building they were standing on to see a black van slowing to a stop right in front of the exit doors of the opposite building.

Tim watched as the two front doors of the van opened and two rather brutish looking men stepped out. They made their way towards the back of the van, looking around the ally. Of course never thinking to look up, or hard for that matter. Amateurs.

The two thugs got to the back doors of the van and opened them up. What they drug out made Tim want to throw up and/or jump down there right then and there and break every bone in their bodies.

Two small children, a boy and a girl, were pulled from the van. They had gags, as well as having their hands tied behind their backs and they had blindfolds over their eyes. They wore simple play clothes. They looked like they were snatched right off a playground or school grounds. The thought made Tim's stomach churn. This sure as hell was not a drug or gun trade. It was human trafficking.

Everyone on the roof was frozen in place, almost not believing the situation they were seeing. The silence didn't last long though.

The little girl tripped stepping over the curb, scraping her knee. She started to cry through the gag, little sobs shaking her whole body. One of the thugs reached down and grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her up. That was it.

Without warning, Jason leaped down from his spot on the roof, landing right on top of the van. You couldn't see his face due to his helmet, but Tim was sure Jason was absolutely raging. Not that none of the occupants that remained on the roof weren't, but Jason was always a bit more volatile towards cases that involved children. Especially trafficking.

The two thugs whirled around to look at Jason. They didn't get much time to do anything though before one of them dropped to the ground dead, two bullet holes in his skull. Jason pointed his gun at the other man who tried to run, but as soon as he went to turn around Jason shot him once through the throat, dropping him for good.

"Red Hood!"

Jason looked up to see Batman jumping from the roof, flying down towards him. Jason stepped to the side of the van as Batman landed right on the exact spot that he had been occupying earlier. Batman stood up and reached forward, grabbing the collar of Red Hood's jacket, pulling him towards himself.

"What the hell was that?! We needed them for interrogation! What if Black Mask is still connected to this somehow? What if this was only the beginning and there's other children involved? We have no way of knowing where they are!" Batman roared in Red Hood's face (Or helmet rather). Batman just shoved him back, jumping off the van, but not before turning slightly and muttering over his shoulder towards Jason. "More people might become victims tonight because of your lust for blood." And without another word, stalked back to the two dead bodies on the ground.

Jason stood with his head bowed, not sure what to do from that point. The cries of the two children immediately brought him from his own thoughts as he looked over to the two children who were at the moment, huddled together, not able to see or talk properly, still bound, gagged, and blindfolded. He leaped from the van towards them, and landed a few feet in front of them. The loud thud caused the two children to shake even more. Jason could see from were he stood the bottom halves of the blindfolds were getting wet.

Jason's heart sank just looking at the two kids. He walked forward and knelt in front of them, reaching forward and touching the little boy on the shoulder. The boy immediately stiffened at the touch, shuffling backwards to get away. Jason sighed, not sure exactly what to do, but not willing to be beaten either. He took off his helmet, placed it to the side, and tried again, but this time he tried to talk to the kid.

"Hey, it's alright, we're the good guys. You're safe now." He said softly, gently squeezing the little boy's shoulder. This seemed to help because the boy was no longer trying to get away, but he was still stiff as a plank of wood. By this point Tim had joined him and was on his knees in front of the little girl.

Tim reached for her blindfold first, gently pulling it down to her neck. He was met with watery bright green eyes. She just looked up at him and sniffled. Tim smiled gently at her and reached for her gag as well, speaking soft words of comfort into her ear as he reached behind her. Tim looked over and saw that Jason was doing the same thing to the little boy. After the gags and blindfolds were removed, Tim took out a batarang and swiftly cut through the bonds.

As soon as the children were free, they both flung themselves at Jason and Tim, sobbing. Jason kept his hands in the air, looking somewhat confused at what to do in this situation. Tim immediately wrapped his arms around the little girl and picked her up, rubbing her back and telling her it was going to be alright.

Jason looked over, and following his little brother's lead, picked up the boy in front of him and tried to console him. Jason was never good at things like this.

They both walked over to Batman, who was now joined by the rest, except Damian, who was still up on the roofs, making sure no one else was coming. Batman looked up at them when he heard the footsteps. He looked at Tim, then over to Jason. He just sighed and stood up and walked over.

Jason wasn't sure what he was doing, but then Bruce reached out and squeezed Jason's shoulder. Jason looked at him, not sure what to think of this gesture at first, but then nodded his head. Bruce nodded too, squeezing one more time and then went back to the bodies.

"Fist things first, we need to call the police and get these kids the proper care they need, and then back to their families if possible." Batman's spoke to the group. He looked up at Damian, who nodded his head and got to work on contacting the police. Batman turned back to and began to walk towards the van, when gunshots rang out in the ally way.

Everyone immediately dropped into a crouch and lunged for whatever cover they could find. Jason and Tim ran to the other side of the van and crouched down, Batman was at the other end peering around the corner, while Nightwing and Batgirl jumped behind a dumpster.

"Status update, NOW!" Batman commanded into the comm from his spot next to the van.

"Here!"

"Here."

Nightwing's and Batgirl's voices came through the comms in a low whisper, trying not gain the attention of the shooter, wherever he/she was.

Batman turned and looked at Jason and Tim, who were both still holding onto the children, who had buried their faces into Red Hood's and Red Robin's uniforms, trying to muffle their cries.

"Red Hood and Red Robin are with me." Batman said through the comms, letting Batgirl and Nightwing know.

"Robin, report. Where are you?" Batman spoke through the comms again. He was met with silence. "Robin, I said report!" Batman said with a bit more urgency. Still nothing.

"ROBIN!" This time Batman didn't wait for a response. He leaped from behind the van and ran to the building where his youngest son was perched upon just 5 minutes earlier.

Nightwing and Batgirl followed close behind him. Red Hood and Red Robin stayed behind the van, so very much wanting to follow to see what happened to Robin, but not wanting to endanger the children that they were still carrying.

When Batman got to the top of the building, he wasn't prepared for what he saw.

Robin was lying on the ground face down, bleeding out. Two bullet wounds were visible from the back.

Batman was crouched down next to him within seconds, slowly turning him over. Nightwing and Batgirl came to the top and just stared. Nightwing was the first to jump into action.

"Robin!" He ran to the other side of his baby brother that Batman wasn't on. Batgirl immediately joined him.

Robin groaned from his place on the ground, but his eyes remained shut.

Batman grabbed his son and headed for the stairwell, not bothering to look over his shoulder to bark out commands of the other two occupants on the roof.

"Batgirl, summon the Batmobile and contact Alfred. Tell him to get the med bay ready and to contact Leslie Thompkins. Nightwing, contact Gordon. Tell him to send his least disruptive CSI officers to the scene, I want to come back and inspect it later."

Batgirl nodded and ran for the stairwell, leaping down it like the graceful assassin she was, and running down the road towards the Batmobile.

Nightwing had his hand up on his comm, ready to make the call, when Batman reached up and grabbed his hand to stop him. Nightwing looked at him questioningly, waiting for an explanation.

"Don't tell Gordon about Robin, this crime scene is mine." Batman growled out. He didn't wait for an answer and walked to the edge of the building, and shot a grappling line to the opposite building and swung down to the street below.

Red Hood and Red Robin peaked around the edge of the van to see what was going on, and upon seeing the state of their baby brother, they both rushed over to Batman who had the boy cradled protectively in his arms against his chest.

"What the fuck happened?!" Jason yelled, skidding to a halt in front of Batman

"Hood!" Tim warmed from his place beside him, pressing the little girl's head into his chest, also covering her ear with his hand. But despite his chiding, Tim was just as worried and confused as Jason was, and also wanted desperately to find out what had happened.

Batman looked up from the unnaturally pale face of his youngest to stare at his two middle children. "I don't know." What the simple answer that greeted them.

Red Robin and Red Hood just stared back, confusion and anger spread across their face. The silence ended when a loud roar of an engine was heard. Batgirl was coming around the corner with the Batmobile.

Once stopped, the car opened up and batgirl sprung out, landing gracefully on the hood and then leaping off to land in front of the vehicle.

Batman ran over and put Robin in the back seat. He turned around began to give orders. "Batgirl and Red Hood are coming back with me, Nightwing and Red Robin will stay here with the children and deal with the GCDP. As soon as you can get away, do so. I want you all back at the cave within the next hour." And with that, he jumped into the batmobile, signaling for Batgirl and Red Hood to do the same.

Red Hood walked over and handed the little boy to Nightwing. The boy was so exhausted that he was basically asleep already, so passing him off didn't seem to bother him.

As soon as Nightwing had the boy, Red Hood turned around ran towards the batmobile, jumping in the back with Robin while Batgirl was in the front. The car closed and immediately spun around and sped off into the night.

Nightwing and Red Robin just stood in the grimy ally way, the two children dead asleep in their arms.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back in the batcave, Damian, now stripped of his Robin costume and wearing only a pair of gray sweatpants, was laying in a gurney, hooked up with several IV's and monitors. The high pitched steady beep was the only thing heard in the silent cave.

Everyone was gathered around in various spots among the cave. Dick was sitting right next to Damian. He had pulled up a chair and had been holding the boy's hand for the past hour. Jason was leaning over the railing of the upper level next the cases that held old costumes. Cass and Tim had made themselves comfortable leaning against one another on top of the dinosaur. Alfred and Leslie were speaking in hushed tones over by the stairs. Most likely Leslie telling Alfred what needs to be done as far as dealing with Damian's wounds as time passed. And of course, Bruce was seated in the large chair in front of the batcomputer. He was the only one still in costume, but his cowl was down.

Alfred came back into the cave, Leslie had already taken her leave up the stairs. He came up behind Dick and placed a hand on his shoulder. Dick barely even moved at first. After a few seconds though he reached up and grabbed Alfred's hand with the one that wasn't clutching desperately to Damian's.

Jason flipped over the railing, and after landing walked over to Alfred and Dick. "So Alfred, what did Les have to say?" He asked, trying to keep his voice level to mask the turmoil he was feeling inside. After being home with his family, the amount of killings he did amounted to almost nothing. He was really turning around, but he couldn't keep it together when it came to kids. And some sick psycho bastard has taken a hit out on his little _kid_ brother. He didn't care what the big bad bat had to say. Once he got a hold of the one responsible for this shooting, and who ordered the hit, they would die at his hands.

Alfred looked over as Jason approached, a sad worn expression adorned his face. "Well Master Jason, it appears that the hit wasn't meant to kill, only to put Robin out of commission. And with him possibly us as well." Jason gave him a questioning look, tilting his head to the side. Alfred sighed and turned around fully to face Jason, but still maintaining his hold on Dick's shoulder.

"This was a very well executed hit, while also trying to make it look like a random shot. The first bullet lodged itself right next Master Damian's spine, but not to actually hit it. It makes it very difficult to remove without damaging the spine and/or crippling Master Damian, or possibly killing him. The surgery and recovery will take an extended period of time. The second one nicked a rib, sending a splinter into Master Damian's left lung. It partially collapsed, but again, not so much that we can't fix it. But it will leave him in a weakened state for quite some time. Leslie and I believe this assault was meant not mainly to injure Robin, but to slow the rest of us down. There is someone in the city that is planning something big, and wants Batman out of the way. I also suspect that the tip we got was phony information leaked in order to lure us to that location" Alfred finished solemnly. He turns back to look at Damian, shallow breaths accompanying the frail rise and fall of his chest as he struggles to breath.

Jason just stared at Alfred, eyes widening in shock. The shock faded quickly though and turned into boiling rage. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists by his side. He turned and stalked over to one of the punching bags hanging in one of the corners, and began to beat the crap out of it. No gloves or wrapping. He didn't know what else to do with all the rage spilling over.

By then Cass and Tim had climbed down from the dinosaur and were making their way over to Dick and Alfred.

Cass came and stood in front of Alfred and wrapped her arms around the elderly man, pushing her face into the folds of his dress jacket. Alfred looked down at her, at first startled by her sudden burst of affection, but then just smiled sadly and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, rubbing his hands up down them comfortingly. Cass just shut her eyes and leaned into Alfred more, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

Tim came up behind Dick and wrapped his arms around his neck, leaning his head onto Dick's shoulder. Dick lifted his hand up and tangled it in Tim's hair, lighting scratching the back of his scalp and neck. He turned his head slightly to nuzzle his face into Tim's cheek. At this point he could feel the collar of his shirt beginning to dampen due to the tears that were running down Tim's face. Dick just brought Tim as close to him as he could, also fighting to stave off his own tears.

Jason was still beating the living daylights out of the punching bag when he heard the sniffling coming from the med bay. He stopped and turned around, only to find that his family was a sobbing mess. Never being good with the whole comforting thing, he walked over to Bruce, who hadn't said a word the entire time.

Jason leaned against the chair when he reached it, leaning forward slighting so he could talk to Bruce quietly, and still have him hear.

"So, any ideas on who the son of bitch is?" He all but growled out. He hadn't noticed that he was gripping the chair so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

Batman sat in silence for a while, just staring at the blank screen. Then suddenly he spun around in the chair and got up, stalking over to where he kept his motorcycle.

"Bruce, where are you-" Dick's voice was cut off by the almost animalistic growl the came from Bruce's mouth

"There is only one person on this planet that could make a hit like this." And with that, he jumped on his motorcycle and sped off down the pathway, the entrance opening up, and shutting again.

Everyone just stared at the spot where Bruce disappeared. Suddenly Jason's head shot up, eyes widening in realization.

"It couldn't be… but it has to. But who has the money to hire a big shot like him? And why are they targeting us?" Jason almost whispers to himself.

"What are you talking about Jay?" Tim asks, standing upright, but still keeping his hands on Dick's shoulders.

Jason turns around and walks over to the rest of his family.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yang was sitting in his office, when the door was flung open violently by a raging Black Mask.

"Yang! What the hell happened out there?! You said as long as I baited them you would take care of Batman! All you got was the brat!" Black Mask screamed in Yang's face.

Yang looked up at Black Mask, an unimpressed look written on it. He just sighed and leaned back in his chair, getting some distance between the two of them.

"Quite screaming in my face and actually think for once Black Mask, would ya?" Yang snaps, glaring up at Black Mask. Black Mask just looked irked so Yang continued on. "Leaking information through some old trafficking partners and getting the word out to make it look like an arms deal would more likely bring out the whole clan. A child trafficking case and the big bad daddy bat would have left little Robin at home. Can't risk his _baby_." Yang drug the last word with a sickening mock loving tone.

Black Mask still looked confused, which made Yang sigh heavily again. "I really have to spell everything out don't I?" Yang stood up and walked around to the front of the desk and leaned back on it.

"With the little one out of business, the Batman won't be as hasty to send the rest of his brood after our operations. Him working by himself and in his state isn't wise, but he'll do it to protect the rest of his flock." Yang continued on.

Black Mask looked at Yang questioningly before opening his mouth to speak. "But why keep the kid alive then? He seems like he'll just cause more trouble in the future."

"That was my call." A voice came from the shadows next to the door.

Black mask whirled around, obviously not aware of the room's third occupant. "Where the hell-"

"If you killed the kid now, not only Batman, but the entire bat clan would come looking for us. And not just looking, especially Hood, they would come with vengeance and bloodlust. That's something I really don't want to deal with, so if we just hurt bad enough that he's bed ridden, they'll be in shock, and also a few of them at a time at least, if not all of them, would be forced to stay with him while he recovers to look after him. It would also be Batman's excuse to keep them out of it, which means instead of an entire clan of enraged bats, we get one unsteady daddy bat. That's much easier to handle." The voice cut off, stepping towards the desk and coming into the light.

Yang grinned from his place in front of the desk. "So nice of you to make it today." He stated smoothly, holding out his hand.

The figure just stared for a while, before reluctantly reaching forward and grasping the outstretched hand. "Yang, been a while since I had to deal with your sorry ass."

Yang just barked out a laugh and lightly shoot the returned hand. "Oh, it's great to see you too." He smiled wickedly while looking the figure right in the eyes.

"Deadshot."


End file.
